my dissertation
“An Invitation Addressed to Grief:
How Event Design Can Hold Space”
My dissertation for my Masters focused on event design and how because milestone events mark transitions, I contend that there is always some level of grief present. I suggest specifically inviting grief, since she’s bound to show up anyway, and incorporating her thoughtfully into the event design itself — without taking away from the celebratory focus.
While the content is about event design, the format is presented through editorial design. The image here shows the back cover of the dissertation, which appears to be an addressed envelope. The other side of this “envelope” appears like any other blank white envelope … until the flap is lifted, revealing the title & author on the inside of the flap (on the left) and the acknowledgements on the area of the page that was covered by the flap (on the right).
The photo, under the handwritten typeface Adobe Handwriting Ernie, is by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.
Put another way, this dissertation would be bound and open like a normal book, with the envelope flap acting as a uniquely-shaped partial cover, and the first page designed to be read only once the cover had been lifted. Again, the back of the book would look like an addressed envelope.
This editorial design contains another editorial design. Should you want to peruse my dissertation, please scroll down to the next section … but should you wish to skip all that and move onto the bit where I designed my own memorial pamphlet as part of this larger project, please scroll down to the bottom of the page.
If you are interested in looking through my dissertation, you may swipe through the slides of my page spreads in the next section. Page numbers are on each slide to help orient you. While there are no images (I know, highly unusual in a creative’s dissertation!) other than the memorial pamphlet and appendices, I still wanted it to feel big, bold and graphic, so I kept it simple, elegant, using a stark black and white to keep the focus on the words. I use the blocks of black to break up the white pages, bringing the reader through the content.
Swipe through to see the editorial design of my dissertation.
designing my own memorial pamphlet:
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cover
This rectangle is one side of the folded pamphlet.
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the other side of the cover
When the front “cover” is flipped over, this is what the viewer sees — a slightly askew envelope flap.
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beneath the flap
When the envelope flap is opened, there is a waiting quote from Neil Gaiman. On the inside of the actual flap, a whimsical meandering line reads “Memorial Service” and there is a folded triangle that entices “Schedule.”
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the unfolding begins
When the Neil Gaiman quote is pulled towards the viewer, a Sylvia Plath quote is revealed.
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the unfolding continues
The schedule of events, featuring a few songs and a poem, comes into focus — along with a Tom Robbins quote.
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obituary
Once the letter-sized page has been completely unfolded, the obituary can be read.
The dappled sunshine played hide-and-seek with me here, with the sun disappearing behind the clouds for this particular shot. I decided to use this photo since, well, it seemed appropriate.
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program design
The asterisk refers to a part of the obituary. (Since I did this in the UK as part of my dissertation, I used the UK spelling of “programme.”)
